Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a surgical stapling apparatus and, more particularly, to a multi-fire surgical stapling apparatus including a safety lockout mechanism for inhibiting use beyond a pre-determined number of uses or an incomplete use, and a visual indicator mechanism for indicating the condition and/or state of the apparatus.
Background of Related Art
Surgical devices wherein tissue is first grasped or clamped between opposing jaw structures and then joined by surgical fasteners are well known in the art. In some devices, a knife is provided to cut the tissue which has been joined by the fasteners. The fasteners are typically in the form of surgical staples but two-part polymeric fasteners can also be utilized.
Devices for this purpose can include two jaw structures which are respectively used to capture or clamp tissue. Typically, one of the jaw structures carries a staple cartridge which houses a plurality of staples arranged in at least two lateral rows while the other member has an anvil that defines a surface for forming the staple legs as the staples are driven from the staple cartridge. Generally, the stapling operation is effected by a cam bar, a drive sled, or other similar mechanism, that travels longitudinally through the staple cartridge to sequentially eject the staples from the staple cartridge. A knife can travel between the staple rows to longitudinally cut the stapled tissue between the rows of staples.
In endoscopic or laparoscopic procedures, surgery is performed through a small incision or through a narrow cannula inserted through small entrance openings in the skin. In order to address the specific needs of endoscopic and/or laparoscopic surgical procedures, endoscopic surgical stapling devices have been developed.
It would be beneficial, particularly with respect to laparoscopic and/or endoscopic surgical procedures, to provide a surgical stapling apparatus that can provide a predetermined number of firings without requiring removal of the apparatus from the surgical site and that also includes a safety lockout mechanism for preventing “empty firing,” e.g., firing beyond the predetermined number of firings has expired, and/or firing after a partial firing has occurred. It would further be beneficial to provide a visual indicator mechanism that indicates the condition and/or state of the device, e.g., the number of times the device has been fired, the number of firings remaining, or whether the device is locked out.